16 OFWs held in Singapore due to unconfirmed e-tickets

Some 16 Middle East-bound Filipino workers were briefly held at an airport in Singapore last week after authorities found they were traveling with unconfirmed electronic tickets (e-tickets). In a release posted on its website, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the workers were prevented from boarding their connecting flights to Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Riyadh at Singapore’s Changi Airport due to unconfirmed e-tickets. Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Minda Calaguian-Cruz is thus urging the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to investigate this “new deployment scheme" by no less than accredited recruitment agencies. The Philippine Embassy said that before the workers’ connecting flights, they were required by their airlines to present at the check-in counter the credit card used to purchase the tickets. The workers, however, were unable to do so as they were given only photocopies of the credit card by their agencies. Based on the workers' statements, their employment papers were processed by the POEA, while their agencies gave them two separate tickets — one for their flight to Singapore, and another for their connecting flights to their various Middle East destinations, the release said. It added that the workers were given photocopies of a credit card to be shown at the airline check-in counter, and were not aware that their connecting flights were unconfirmed. An unconfirmed flight means the airline has not yet committed to allowing the passenger to fly as scheduled due to a full flight, and the passenger’s name is simply on the waitlist. The Embassy said the stranded workers were provided shelter at its Filipino Workers Resource Center for three days. They departed for their respective overseas destinations after the Embassy negotiated their airline tickets with the agencies. "The POEA should investigate the case and punish those responsible for allowing their deployed overseas workers to leave the country with unconfirmed bookings," Calaguian-Cruz said. "Workers should personally check with airline companies if their bookings are confirmed; otherwise, their security and safety would be compromised before they can even start to work overseas," she added.—Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV